Victory Gundam

[Sebastian]

Personally I found the animation one of the best Gundams I had seen so far. I only need to finish Z Gundam and ZZ. But I am a freak so my opinnion desnt count much.

I wonder WHY it gets no love. I can easily get MG and HG models from all the other series, even Gundam X and G gundam have more to offer when comes to models and toys, and man... those shows SUCKED.

I had been searching the web for the Assult V2 Gundam and the other one with the big cannon (V2 also, forgot the name). Finnaly got them on HLJ. 1/100 HG kit. OLD kits.

So I wonder WHY there is no MGs or toys? I mean new stuff. Please dont count the crappy Banprestos.

Was the show unsuccesfull in Japan or what?

[Keith]

Not sure, perhaps it just fell inbetween an awkward phase of Gundam poplarity. Show wise, even more awkward beginning. There was no real rason to start the story 2 episodes ahead, and with the ugliest enemy mecha yet being showcased, it was hurt even more. I initially thought I had a bad bootleg & was missing an episode or two....of course after that the show kicks all ass, but the beginning would have been much better if events were shown in order.

[Beltane70]

Actually, there were a lot of toys for Victory Gundam back when the show was running on TV. I have 3 of 1/100 scale kits (1 Victory Gundam, 2 Victory 2 Gundams - the V2 Buster Gundam and the V2 Assault Gundam) and the 1/60 scale V2 Gundam.

Most of the toys I saw for Victory Gundam were small diecast mobile suits. A friend of mine actually owns a human-size beam rifle that lights up and makes the sound that we are all familiar with when you pull the trigger.

[Hoptimus]

Because it is hard to get ahold of.

Easily up there with Zeta as far as story.

I just wish I could get a really nice fansub of it.

[yellowlightman]

I remember reading Mecha Press from around the time Victory Gundam came out and it seemed to be pretty popular in Japan when it was being broadcast. I'm guessing a lot of the American Gundam fans dismissed it because it wasn't "serious" enough or some bollocks like that.

[NERV]

i rmeber when i was like 5 i had a bootleg gundam toy i ha dno idea what it was it wa sjust awesome, i got it in chinatown, year later i realized it was the v2 gundam, i always loved the designed especially the pod thing, all sleek and lots of interchanging

[Panon]

I remember reading Mecha Press from around the time Victory Gundam came out and it seemed to be pretty popular in Japan when it was being broadcast. I'm guessing a lot of the American Gundam fans dismissed it because it wasn't "serious" enough or some bollocks like that.

Uh.. Victory bombed in Japan. The show and it's merchandise line were a complete commercial failure. Ratings wise it ranks as the third lowest rating Gundam series of all time, the only ones rating worse being Gundam X and Turn-A Gundam.

It was the deathblow to the already bled dry UC timeline. Hell, it was essentially an alternate universe show with the UC label slapped onto it as it was. Gundam X was closer in spirit to the UC.

Show wise, even more awkward beginning. There was no real rason to start the story 2 episodes ahead,

Bandai didn't want a Gundam series where the title Gundam didn't appear for the first three episodes.

I just wish I could get a really nice fansub of it.

http://www.animeskyscraper.com/torrent.html

[Graham]

I'm not a Gundam fan and I dislike most Gundam TV series. However, I love Victory Gundam. It has a great story, characters, action and music.

I also love all the mecha designs, both good guys and bad.

I have all the toys, except for the big electronic V-Gundam Beam Rifle. I'm hoping that one day Bandai will release a GFF V2 Assault/Buster toy.

Personally I rate Victory Gundam far higher than original MSG or even Zeta. IMO, it's certainly much better than SEED.

Graham

[LePoseur]

Hey, I'll join in on a Victory love-fest. Awesome show. Too bad I never watched it when it was on TV. I saw a snip of one episode while I was flipping channels and saw the flying tires. The "LAME" alert went off in my head and the was it. Years later though and I love it.

As to the merchandise, most of it was crap. The MS in Pocket's were horrible. In fact the only thing decent was the huge V Gundam. Still, at the time I was cursing it (as it was all I could find in stores) and complaining about how they didn't have any old stuff. I sure wish I'd bought one now. Hey, I was a stupid college kid... what did I know.

[drifand]

The Victory Gundam MS were designed to be smaller than the usual 20m heights, so in 1/100 scale, they'd look pretty small next to the other MGs. F-91 also has a similar 'problem'. And while the 1/144 MS in Pocket toys aren't very poseable by today's standards, they are made of tougher plastics than today's PVC based MSiAs, and even feature some diecast (usually in the hips and legs). As collectors' pieces, the variety is excellent and the prices still very affordable even on eBay. Their weakest area is in the plastics used for the translucent beam shields and sabers... those can fade and turn brittle if overexposed to sunlight, as I've learned to great cost. The white plastics used for the Gundams are also susceptible to yellowing, so keep them away from the UV!

[bob joe mac]

Uh.. Victory bombed in Japan. The show and it's merchandise line were a complete commercial failure. Ratings wise it ranks as the third lowest rating Gundam series of all time, the only ones rating worse being Gundam X and Turn-A Gundam.

It was the deathblow to the already bled dry UC timeline. Hell, it was essentially an alternate universe show with the UC label slapped onto it as it was. Gundam X was closer in spirit to the UC.

Victory Bombed in Japan toy wise but the show certainly did NOT do poorly neither did Turn-A I mean they are two of the LONGEST running series Z and SEED tieing. I mean Turn A even got two comilation movies. I believe the worst recieved gundam things were (at there original airing)

1. Gundam X got cut shirt at 39 eps

2. MSG it too got cancelled at its forst run at 43 eps

3. F-91 flopped in theatres.

Where did you get this info??

Bandai didn't want a Gundam series where the title Gundam didn't appear for the first three episodes.

Dude the Gundam appeared in ep. 1...... also you do relize the title gundam's in Z and ZZ didn't appear for quite some time. What show were you watching?

and as for Animeskyscrapers translatins well as there name says they are ASS.

EDIT- As for why it is not popular here well nobody has finished subbing it except ASS and maybe some ol' VHS subbing crew, but I think the furtheset any other group got was 21 and that was Anime- Gundam on real player (ugh!) I'm sure in a few years all the people who said Z was their fav will leave it alone because all the kiddies will be watching it and V will be for the *elite* fans.

Edited February 23, 2004 by bob joe mac

[Anubis]

If it did that badly, wouldn't it have bene cancelled too?

I have heard there were some oddities in it, but overal was a very in depth story. I have yet to see any of it outside of a piece of one episode once and that's it. I look forward to seeing it eventually, thougn I want to see Zeta and ZZ first.

F91 and Victory gundam suits averaged out at 15 meters, instead of the normal 18-20 average. I guess that's one reason for no MG yet.

Edited February 23, 2004 by Anubis

[Druna Skass]

I haven't seen any of the episodes and read a few summaries at MAHQ, so I don't know enough to the story to have a good opinion. But I can say this, aside from the GunEZ I really have no love for the mobile suit designs of that period.

Oh and speaking of kits is there any chance of Bandai making a EX Ra Calium-class?

Edited February 23, 2004 by Druna Skass

[Jolly Rogers]

The V Gundam was not supposed to show up until episode 3 or so if the story was told in chronological order. Sunrise wanted a Gundam in the first episode so they switched the order around and told the earlier episodes via flashback while what would have been a later episode became the first episode.

The MS from G and Wing aren't that much taller than 15m yet they got MG and even PG treatment already. I guess Katoki's only good at "fixing" other people's designs since he did the original mecha designs in V Gundam.

Edited February 24, 2004 by Jolly Rogers

[maxjenius81]

Ratings for Gundam shows

Mobile Suit V Gundam

Highest rating: 5.3%

Lowest rating: 2.4%

Average rating: 3.9%

Mobile Fighter G Gundam

Highest rating: 7.3%

Lowest rating: 1.7%

Average rating: 4.1%

New Mobile Report Gundam Wing

Highest rating: 6.8%

Lowest rating: 1.8%

Average rating: 4.3%

After War Gundam X (Note: Gundam X episodes 1 - 26 aired Fridays at 5 pm while the remainder of the series aired on Saturdays at 6 am)

Highest rating: (all eps) 6.2% (eps 1 - 26) 6.2% (eps 27 - 39) 1.7%

Lowest rating: (all eps) 0.6% (eps 1 - 26) 1.8% (eps 27 - 39) 0.6%

Average rating: (all eps) 2.8% (eps 1 - 26) 3.5% (eps 27 - 39) 1.2%

Turn A Gundam

Highest rating: 4.1%

Lowest rating: 1.7%

Average rating: 3.0%

Gundam SEED

Highest rating: 8.0%

Lowest rating: 4.6%

Average rating: 6.1%

Hmm....Victory 3.9, Wing 4.3....not much better ratings wise. So despite being the third worse, its not much worse than Wing. And as for Turn-A, despite its low ratings, it became far more popular after the series ended.

I've seen the first 10 eps of Victory, and what i saw did impress me. I understand that the series pace is very different from say Zeta. Victory is much more like real war in that characters dont all die at the end a la Zeta, but die throughout the entire series (Shrike Team) similiar to real war. Much Like Turn A, many fans simply view the mecha without much regard and therefore disregard the series. But the like Turn A the strength of V lies in its stories and characters. Also I;m not exactly sure how you get the idea that it was an AU show with UC slapped on it. It has all the harbingers of a traditional UC series. Oh, and dont forget, with the creation of Turn A there really are no more AU series (well i dont know about seed).

[Agent ONE]

[Druna Skass]

I guess Katoki's only good at "fixing" other people's designs since he did the original mecha designs in V Gundam.

Well there are the Tallgeese and Tauruses, and the Leo didn't look that bad either. And his capital ship designs look better than a lot of other people's.

[Stamen0083]

I guess Katoki's only good at "fixing" other people's designs since he did the original mecha designs in V Gundam.

I'll only assume that you know that Katoki does much, much more than just Gundam.

With things like Virtual On and Super Robot Wars, he's given free reigns to design as he wishes. The Bandai folks love ugly retro, so he's not allowed to do much there.

Thank goodness that Bandai let slip the MG GP01 in '97. I'd kill the fools who wanted the GP01 to look like that PG fiasco.

And his capital ship designs look better than a lot of other people's

What capital ships? I'm not aware of any Katoki ship designs.

Edited February 24, 2004 by Stamen0083

[Angel's Fury]

I guess Katoki's only good at "fixing" other people's designs since he did the original mecha designs in V Gundam.

I'll only assume that you know that Katoki does much, much more than just Gundam.

With things like Virtual On and Super Robot Wars, he's given free reigns to design as he wishes. The Bandai folks love ugly retro, so he's not allowed to do much there.

Thank goodness that Bandai let slip the MG GP01 in '97. I'd kill the fools who wanted the GP01 to look like that PG fiasco.

And his capital ship designs look better than a lot of other people's

What capital ships? I'm not aware of any Katoki ship designs.

Just curious, so you don't like the look of the GP01FB?

[Druna Skass]

What capital ships? I'm not aware of any Katoki ship designs.

Libra (Gundam Wing

Barge, not really a ship but still something big (Gundam Wing)

Squid-class (V Gundam)

Sinope-class (V Gundam)

Marilyn-class (V Gundam)

Keilas Guilie-class (V Gundam)

Callisto-class (V Gundam)

Amalthea-class (V Gundam)

Reinforce Junior (V Gundam)

Well at least he's listed as the designer at MAHQ.

Edited February 24, 2004 by Druna Skass

[Stamen0083]

Just curious, so you don't like the look of the GP01FB?

I hate the Fb. Stupid clown feet and nipple thrusters??

I would have hated the GP01 as well if Katoki didn't do Kawamori a favor and redesign that thing.

Druna Skass: Ahh... V Gundam designs. I don't do V Gundam.

I would have chewed you out if you listed the Albion as a Katoki design :-P

You're OK.

[mikeszekely]

In the end, I learned to like Victory Gundam alright... I guess. My gripes with it? It had a nasty beginning, much worse than even ZZ Gundam. The characters were, by far, the worst in a UC Gundam series. And while I learned to like the V2, the rest of the mobile suits sucked. Oh, they sucked big, even the Victory. Finally, despite the UC setting and the reoccuring UC themes, the show just didn't have the same atmosphere that was found in the origninal, Z, or ZZ. Gundam X felt more like those three than than V did, and no, Gundam X did not suck. From what I've seen, Gundam X is by far the best of the UC Gundam series (I have yet to see Turn A or G), and is actually a better TV series than V.

I definately have to disagree with Graham. Z Gundam was the best Gundam TV series. Excellent story, characters you love to hate, and excellent mecha.

[Sebastian]

It is all up to each person preferences I guess.

I do agree with Graham about V Gundam, but I need to finish Z first. Anyways Z is "Ok" so far, but still NO WAY better than V.

As for the Mecha. The V2 gundam, specially the Assault and the Buster (and the V2 Assaul+Buster is REALLY sweet) is really one of my favorites Mechas and my favorite Gundam by far. Yep, some of the bad guys Mecha really sucked... too bad.

I think a V2 deserves the MG treatment, even if it will be a bit small.

The GP FB rocks. Even with the clown feets.

Edited February 24, 2004 by Sebastian

[Stamen0083]

The GP FB rocks. Even with the clown feets.

Not to say EVERY Fb version sucks ass. The G-System GP01Fb+ is pretty badass.

However, lacking the 500+ dollars to own a big chunk of resin, I made my own HGUC conversion:

http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~stamen0083/progs/030812/

And the sole details for the feet:

http://www.uweb.ucsb.edu/~stamen0083/progs...SoleDetails.jpg

Now all I need is a little bit of time to finish it, make the molds for the duplicate parts, and build!

[Abombz!!]

Heh.... I'm just rewatching V Gundam right now.

I have to say... the characters are the best UC Gundam characters, by far. Uso is not the whiny punching bag that Camille was, and while not as cool as Judo, he is very nice. The villians are pretty good too, Chronical is much better then Jerid, by far.

Katejina takes the cup as the most psychotic female character to date. God I wish she had been killed in the end.

Soundtrack is pretty great too, Stand up to the victory is the bext Gundam intro so far.

The animation was pretty good too, considering its a rather old show. Doesn't have many recycled frames. The designs are a bit of an aquired taste, but they look far better then most of the crap in Z Gundam.

Now excuse me while I watch some more of it.

P.S. GP01FB is a @#$% ridiculous looking MS.

[Keith]

In the end, I learned to like Victory Gundam alright... I guess. My gripes with it? It had a nasty beginning, much worse than even ZZ Gundam. The characters were, by far, the worst in a UC Gundam series. And while I learned to like the V2, the rest of the mobile suits sucked. Oh, they sucked big, even the Victory. Finally, despite the UC setting and the reoccuring UC themes, the show just didn't have the same atmosphere that was found in the origninal, Z, or ZZ. Gundam X felt more like those three than than V did, and no, Gundam X did not suck. From what I've seen, Gundam X is by far the best of the UC Gundam series (I have yet to see Turn A or G), and is actually a better TV series than V.

I definately have to disagree with Graham. Z Gundam was the best Gundam TV series. Excellent story, characters you love to hate, and excellent mecha.

I'm actually about to watch the last 5 episodes tonight, but X is by no means a UC series. The one major flaw in the attempt to make it similar to UC is in making Newtypes out to be psychics. While I haven't finished it, there's absolutely no way it holds a candle to V, but it is an interesting mesh between ZZ & Orguss in style.

[Beltane70]

I Found Victory to be a fair series. It wasn't the best, it wasn't the worst. The mecha designs were not my favorite. The only design that I really liked was the V2 Gundam, though I did like the ship designs quite a bit.

I'm the opposite of you Abombz, I prefer the mecha designs of Zeta much more than I do the designs of Victory. I always had a certain fondness of the Zeta, though I find my favorite Gundam mecha designs are the ones in Char's Counterattack.

I don't remember the soundtrack too well, though, and only vaguely remember Stand Up to the Victory. My favorite of the Gundam intros is the second opening to Zeta. It took me several years to find the full version of it.

Anyway, that's all just my 2 cents.

[Sebastian]

Heh.... I'm just rewatching V Gundam right now.

I have to say... the characters are the best UC Gundam characters, by far. Uso is not the whiny punching bag that Camille was, and while not as cool as Judo, he is very nice. The villians are pretty good too, Chronical is much better then Jerid, by far.

Katejina takes the cup as the most psychotic female character to date. God I wish she had been killed in the end.

Soundtrack is pretty great too, Stand up to the victory is the bext Gundam intro so far.

The animation was pretty good too, considering its a rather old show. Doesn't have many recycled frames. The designs are a bit of an aquired taste, but they look far better then most of the crap in Z Gundam.

Now excuse me while I watch some more of it.

P.S. GP01FB is a @#$% ridiculous looking MS.

Generally speaking I agree with you Abomz!!

Just one question. What makes the GP01FB is a @#$% ridiculous looking MS??

I have the PG (not finished of course) and I find the design pretty decent.

Also it is a froating head production so it cant be that bad...

About Z mecha... Yep. Pretty crappy.

[Black Valkyrie]

I have HGUC GP01, HGUC GP01 Fb and made mix in between. The body GP01 Fb plus the arms and legs the normal GP01. I have to admit that GP01 Fb feet looks like Bozo`s feet and I hate it.

Do you ever think that V Gundam or Gundam-X (my best AU of all time) will ever release international ?

[Anubis]

I have HGUC GP01, HGUC GP01 Fb and made mix in between. The body GP01 Fb plus the arms and legs the normal GP01. I have to admit that GP01 Fb feet looks like Bozo`s feet and I hate it.

Do you ever think that V Gundam or Gundam-X (my best AU of all time) will ever release international ?

Bandai has said they will get all the Gundam series to R1, it just will take a while. I would imagine V and Turn A would be the last ones.

I hope F91 comes by somewhere close, as I wouldn't mind seeing some anime on the big screen, and I missed Cowboy Bebop when it came here.

My guess on the order for what's left will be

ZZ

X

V

Turn A (no idea about the movies though)

There is a possibility though that V could come after ZZ, which I would prefer, but they seem to like to tuck AC's after the UC's. If and when Seed 2 comes it will bump whichever was in queue, just like Seed did to Zeta.

All in all, I'm happy we're getting two series this year, and two good ones at that. Plus F91. Despite a few criticisms I did enjoy Seed. They just left so much open to be covered later it felt like there were some missing chapters in there. This is my primary gripe with the series. They could have wrapped so much more if they didn't take 30 episodes to get to Alaska (though they did have a LOT to deal with along the way there). Aside from that point, I did enjoy it quite well.

[Abombz!!]

Heh.... I'm just rewatching V Gundam right now.

I have to say... the characters are the best UC Gundam characters, by far. Uso is not the whiny punching bag that Camille was, and while not as cool as Judo, he is very nice. The villians are pretty good too, Chronical is much better then Jerid, by far.

Katejina takes the cup as the most psychotic female character to date. God I wish she had been killed in the end.

Soundtrack is pretty great too, Stand up to the victory is the bext Gundam intro so far.

The animation was pretty good too, considering its a rather old show. Doesn't have many recycled frames. The designs are a bit of an aquired taste, but they look far better then most of the crap in Z Gundam.

Now excuse me while I watch some more of it.

P.S. GP01FB is a @#$% ridiculous looking MS.

Generally speaking I agree with you Abomz!!

Just one question. What makes the GP01FB is a @#$% ridiculous looking MS??

I have the PG (not finished of course) and I find the design pretty decent.

Also it is a froating head production so it cant be that bad...

About Z mecha... Yep. Pretty crappy.

Why? Because they took the most astheticaly(sp) pleasing Gundam design to date (the GP01) and turned it into an ugly monster with clown shoes and verniers in all its..... extremities.

I'm the opposite of you Abombz, I prefer the mecha designs of Zeta much more than I do the designs of Victory. I always had a certain fondness of the Zeta, though I find my favorite Gundam mecha designs are the ones in Char's Counterattack.

I don't remember the soundtrack too well, though, and only vaguely remember Stand Up to the Victory. My favorite of the Gundam intros is the second opening to Zeta. It took me several years to find the full version of it.

The MA Zeta designs were terrible, while the MKII, Hyaku Shiki, Quebely and the Palace Athena were beautiful.

V Gundam has the best soundtrack.... but the Zeta soundtrack isn't bad either. Except for Wing and G, Gundam series have, overall, had pretty good soundtracks.

[Abombz!!]

I have HGUC GP01, HGUC GP01 Fb  and made mix in between. The body GP01 Fb plus the arms and legs the normal GP01.  I have to admit that GP01 Fb feet looks like Bozo`s feet    and I hate it.

Do you ever think that V Gundam or Gundam-X (my best AU of all time) will ever release international ?

Bandai has said they will get all the Gundam series to R1, it just will take a while. I would imagine V and Turn A would be the last ones.

I hope F91 comes by somewhere close, as I wouldn't mind seeing some anime on the big screen, and I missed Cowboy Bebop when it came here.

My guess on the order for what's left will be

ZZ

X

V

Turn A (no idea about the movies though)

There is a possibility though that V could come after ZZ, which I would prefer, but they seem to like to tuck AC's after the UC's. If and when Seed 2 comes it will bump whichever was in queue, just like Seed did to Zeta.

All in all, I'm happy we're getting two series this year, and two good ones at that. Plus F91. Despite a few criticisms I did enjoy Seed. They just left so much open to be covered later it felt like there were some missing chapters in there. This is my primary gripe with the series. They could have wrapped so much more if they didn't take 30 episodes to get to Alaska (though they did have a LOT to deal with along the way there). Aside from that point, I did enjoy it quite well.

Actually.... V Gundam could come whenever. Even though its an UC series, its story is pretty stand alone and doesn't require previous UC Gundam knowledge.

[bob joe mac]

wow I read somebody DID NOT like the cast!?!?!?! I think V gundam had the best ast of all Gundam series except Turn A. I mean even though they are little kids they are FAR more mature then lets say Cammille or stupid as Judau.

Also another thing that I REALLY liked about V gundam was all the dirty back hand tactics they used and they were the GOOD guys!! I mean in Z gundam it was enemy gets new suit and attacks Ahgama Cammille and buddies launch...win... camille cries because his life sucks repeat 40 times with a few good episodes here and there and thats Z gundam. Then of course you have wing, ZZ and there tactics were hey they outnumber us 1000 to 1 so lets attack head on because we are all powerful.

I mean sure they did have some wierd ass MS designs for the Zanscare but the fed's and the League Militaire had some really cool ones... well they only really had like what 4?

[Druna Skass]

Did they ever explain how the Federation went from the entity ruling the Earth Sphere and making Gundams to the crumbling entity in V Gundam? Did it just end up like Rome?

[Anubis]

Did they ever explain how the Federation went from the entity ruling the Earth Sphere and making Gundams to the crumbling entity in V Gundam? Did it just end up like Rome?

The federation was just weak, and kept switching on it's stance on the colonies. They want to control them, then they let them linger and develop problems. They couldn't do anything from keeping these new uprising from starting, and when bad things happened they were slow to react. Kind of like in CCA, where the hell was the earth fleet. They didn't show up until the asteroid was falling into the atmosphere. Sell Axis to Char's Neo Zeon after he already dropped one asteroid on theplanet? The federation had a bad habit of crap like that. Eventually it crumbled, so Rome could be a good analogy for the Federation.

It was the classic Gundam question, yeah the feds are supposed to be the good guys, but look at the background, the people in charge, and how lots of the officers acted, allowing thing like the Titans, and you have to ask how much better was the federation really, how well were they able to maintain the peace. Pretty crappily actually.

Side note: This is one question that bugs me: Titans. I've read it is supposed to be pronounced Ti-TANS. Why? Was it an Engrish error that became cannon, or was there a purpose behind not using Tit-ans